Final answer:
Histones have high proportions of lysine and arginine because the positively charged side chains of these amino acids bind to the negatively charged phosphodiester backbone of DNA. This enables histones to arrange themselves uniformly along the DNA, facilitating DNA packaging and chromatin compaction.
Step-by-step explanation:
Histones have high proportions of lysine and arginine because these amino acids have positively charged side chains. This positive charge allows the lysine and arginine amino acids to bind to the negatively charged phosphodiester backbone of DNA. The high concentration of lysine and arginine in histones enables them to arrange themselves uniformly along the DNA, facilitating the packaging of DNA into nucleosomes and the overall compaction of chromatin.